"Happy Valentine's Day indeed," Heather Rosier muttered underneath her breath with malice as she hid her magical camera in the inside pocket of her robes, flicking her blonde hair out of her face as she watched Mia and Charlus make out for a moment longer before slipping away, moving onto the high street of Hogsmeade.

She blended into the crowd quickly, slipping through gangs of boys joshing about near the Honeydukes entrance; girls gossiping whilst they walked arm in arm into Gladrags and couples holding hands as they entered Madam Puddifoots. Sighing, Heather pushed herself free of one last group of girls that were squealing about Merlin knows what and finally she was free...until she slipped.

Heather had never believed in karma but, as her traitorous shoe caught the particular part of black ice on the pavement that would send her flying, she cursed herself for ever taking the picture of Charlus Potter and Euphemia Black, thinking that this was the universe's way of saying that she had committed wrongdoing.

That was until a pair of hands grabbed her by one of her flailing arms in the air and stopped her from falling and making a complete fool of herself which led Heather to breathe a massive sigh of relief as she looked in the face of her saviour, groaning when she saw who it was.

The one and only Alastor Moody. One of the blood traitors that Mia hung about with and one of the notorious playboys that the girls in Heather's year sighed and squealed over, especially ever since Charlus Potter had suspiciously gone off the radar (though Heather now knew why that was).

"That's not usually the reaction I get when I stop people from falling," Alastor said with an awkward chuckle, referring to her groan. Heather rolled her eyes, believing that he was trying to flirt with her and she wasn't in the mood for it whatsoever.

"What do you want me to do? Applaud you to my heart's content?" Heather responded sarcastically and Alastor gave her a strange look before commenting with a snicker, "Yeah, I would appreciate that very much, actually."

Heather was taken aback for a second - she wasn't used to people responding to her sarcasm, they usually blanched or didn't answer her out of fear of being verbally attacked even further.

But Alastor had not even blinked an eyelash and it infuriated her that the boy wasn't even slightly intimidated by her cutting words and her foul expression accompanying it.

"Jokes on you, I don't have a heart," Heather retorted, not willing to lose the verbal battle that easily without realising that a self-deprecating remark slipped out instead of the snide reply that she was aiming for.

Alastor went to smile in amusement but stopped himself, seeing the deadly look on Heather's face and knowing exactly what Mia meant when she had been telling the group just how terrifying Heather Rosier's stony glares could be. "She's like a basilisk - if looks could kill, we'd be all dead," Euphemia had once said and Alastor had to agree with his friend.

"Oh, I know you don't have a heart, Rosier," Alastor said with a sweet smile, "Did you accidentally eat it in the womb?" he asked with a smirk and watched as her mouth dropped in outrage and her eyes narrowed, glaring viciously at him.

"No, there wasn't enough room in the womb for me to be able to work out a way to eat my own heart," Heather replied coldly and Alastor raised an inquisitive eyebrow, as if he was questioning why.

Heather wanted with all of her soul to confess to Alastor the reason why there had been limited room in the womb because it had been a fact that she had never told anyone, not even her best friend, Walburga Black.

However, the girl was a notorious muggle hater and detested all half bloods and blood traitors which meant that Heather shouldn't have even been speaking to Alastor Moody, let alone telling him her life story, especially because she had somewhere to be.

But it had been the first time in years that someone had asked her about that particular part of her past and Heather found the words tumbling out of her mouth uncontrollably, much to her regret, "There's less room in a womb if there's two babies in there, you know. Which was the case for me."

Alastor's eyes widened, "You're a twin?" he asked, completely shocked. It puzzled him though because there wasn't another Rosier in their year...which meant that something must've happened to Heather's twin.

"I was a twin," Heather corrected him, her tone sharp and brittle but also with a certain degree of hoarseness as if she was trying to conceal her emotions from him, so as to not appear weak.

He watched closely as a slight flash of pain shot through Heather's usually cold and empty eyes, that hardly showed any emotion unless it was malice or sickened pleasure at someone else's pain, but Alastor couldn't feel sorry for her, he couldn't forget how this girl treated Euphemia, his dear friend.

Then again, he did feel something akin to sympathy ripple through his body as Heather stared down at her feet, her lips clamped together as painful nostalgia swam in her blue eyes, that were normally like ice.

"What were they called?" Alastor asked gently, still unable to believe that he was having this conversation with Heather Rosier, the girl who had made Mia's life a living hell but also a girl that clearly had a reason as to why she was such a bitch.

"Acacia. She was called Acacia," Heather said quietly after a moment of silence as she debated internally whether she was going to speak to the blood traitor boy or not. Alastor nodded slowly, guiding her to sit down on a bench opposite the pink door of Madam Puddifoots, which had been where he had been waiting before Heather bumped into him.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Alastor asked gently, sensing it was a difficult topic to breach. He was so conflicted on whether he should be even talking to Heather - she had been so horrid to Euphemia and Alastor hated people mistreating his friends.

However, there was something in her eyes that screamed how broken she was inside and Alastor just wanted to understand why she was so cruel and what had happened to make her so hateful towards muggles and anyone associated with them.

When Alastor had gone for his careers meeting with his Head of House, Professor Dumbledore, the old man had said that, because he was so skilled in Defence Against the Dark Arts, he should consider becoming an Auror but Alastor believed that there was something more to being an Auror than being good at catching dark wizards...you had to understand them and why they did what they did.

So that was what he was dong with Heather now - he was trying to understand what exactly had happened to make her the way that she was and to see whether she would be willing to open up to him and put aside all prejudices that she held in her heart for the chance to just get her obviously bottled up secret off her chest and talk to someone for a change instead of being alone with her thoughts.

And so, when Heather Rosier opened her mouth to tell Alastor Moody, a boy she never would've fraternised with even if he was the last man on earth, about her twin sister, the Gryffindor listened avidly, trying to see whether there was a heart underneath Heather's cold and tough exterior that she hid behind.

Manchester, 1944

"Hattie, come on!" Acacia Rosier called out to her sister, pattering out onto the path in front of their house, the stone townhouse that was famously named 'Rosier Residence' (Heather's Uncle Felix had received the official Rosier Manor for him to live in with his wife, Belvina, and their daughter, Druella, because he was the eldest son so Jared Rosier, Heather's father, had gotten one of the many properties in the Rosier estate).

"I'm coming, Casey!" Heather yelled back and she thundered down the stairs, nearly knocking over her brother, Benedict, in the process but she didn't really care - she and her sister had been allowed to walk to the nearby wizarding sweet shop, which was concealed from view behind a bush in Piccadilly Gardens, only visible to magical folk.

"Hurry up, Mother won't let us out for long!" Acacia complained at her sister as Heather rushed out towards her, hooking her arm through her twin's as the two eight year olds began to saunter down the streets, looking slightly odd in their billowing robes (for their parents never would've allowed them to don muggle clothing) which caused a few strange glances to be thrown in their direction from muggles but the girls were oblivious.

"I can't believe she's letting us out at all," Heather said excitedly to Acacia, who nodded her blonde head back at her identical twin in response, staring around at the busy streets with widened eyes. "Woah! Where did all those houses go?" Acacia pointed to some demolished terrace houses that were now nothing but ruins and debris.

"Been bombed by the Germans, love," a postman nearby informed the two girls, having overheard Acacia's exclamation, and Heather wrinkled her nose up in disgust at the muggle whilst her twin smiled back at the man, thanking him merrily for explaining.

"Casey! That was a muggle!" Heather hissed at her twin as they walked away, following the pavement into the heart of Manchester, the bustling crowds of people bumping into the two girls as motor cars beeped their horns and swerved around corners at alarming rates, the red buses surfing alongside them, the cars appearing ant-like compared to the massive bus.

"I am very well aware, thank you, Hattie," Acacia replied, "It doesn't mean I have to be rude just because they're not magical like us," she said piously and Heather was about to argue when a woman beside them laughed and muttered something under her breath about 'little girls being so imaginative these days.'

"You need to be careful about what you're saying near Muggles, Casey," Heather said to Acacia in a whisper as they held hands and crossed the busy road, looking left and right carefully. "Why?" Acacia asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion and her twin sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Because they're not supposed to know and then they'll hunt us down and burn us wizarding folk like they did in the olden days!" Heather exclaimed and Acacia's mouth dropped open, looking horrified but her sister wasn't finished talking yet, "That's why Mr Grindelwald is sorting it out for us - so that we're safe," she informed her twin.

Acacia frowned again, tugging Heather along another winding street that led to Piccadilly Gardens, where the magical sweetshop was concealed. "I don't like Mr Grindelwald...he's mean and he hurts people just to get his own way," the eight year old shook her head, her blonde curls bouncing, "I don't believe in violence - we don't like it when the Muggles hurt us so why do we have to hurt the Muggles? It doesn't make any sense."

By now, they had arrived at the sweetshop and all conversation about politics was diminished as soon as the girls saw the array of sweets on display in the sweetshop window, causing them to run over excitedly and press their faces up against the window, steaming up the glass with their anticipated breath and leaving handprints in the condensation.

Once they had entered and happily picked the sweets they wanted, Acacia got out the money purse that their mother had given them and paid the woman behind the desk, seeing as she was the one better at handling money and mathematics and was the most responsible out of the two of them. "Come on, let's go," Heather grabbed Acacia's arm and pulled her out of the shop, her bag full of sweets in the other hand.

"Have a nice day, girls! Stay safe!" the kindly woman behind the counter called as the two eight year olds stumbled out of her shop, giggling and chattering away to one another. "I reckon she was a half blood, she smelt funny. Like a Muggle," Heather whispered to Acacia as they left, giggling but Acacia wasn't amused.

"That's nasty, Hattie. Don't be mean," Acacia murmured with a frown, pulling away from her twin and eating one of her sweets with a slightly solemn expression on her face as Heather rolled her eyes, "Don't be so sensitive, Casey," she told her sister with an exasperated tone.

"I'm not being sensitive! That was very mean!" Acacia protested indistinctly, her mouth stoppered by a Droobles Best Blowing Gum, looking quite upset with her sister and Heather softened, "I'm sorry that I upset you but she's just a horrid half blood!" she insisted, insinuating that it didn't matter as much because the woman wasn't of pure wizarding blood.

"Half bloods can still get their feelings hurt!" Acacia snapped, stopping in the middle of the now fairly quieter pavement (the girls had spent a considerable amount of time in the sweetshop deliberating over what to have and so the evening rush hour had passed).

"They're still humans!" Acacia exclaimed, chewing on her gum ferociously and Heather sighed, "Don't you ever listen to what Mummy and Daddy say? They're inferior to us, they don't matter," she said to her sister in the kind of tone that one would use with a toddler who didn't understand. Acacia didn't appreciate this. Nor did she like the words.

"Don't be so horrible, Hattie!" Acacia yelled tearfully, biting her lip in a melancholy fashion. "It's the truth!" Heather told her twin, near to yelling herself. The argument probably would've continued between the two girls if it wasn't for a high pitched wailing noise that echoed through the city centre at that very moment, a siren that screeched in an ear-piercing way that caused both Heather and Acacia to clamp their hands over their ears.

Pandemonium filled the city of Manchester as people rushed for the public air raid shelters, cursing and pushing each other over in their haste to seek shelter from the oncoming German planes that were going to bomb the city, a part of the Muggle war that the Rosier twins were unaware of.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Heather screamed at Acacia over the deafening noise of the air raid siren, a puzzled look coming over her face as Acacia looked worried, her eyes following the stampede of people rushing for the massive underground shelter and Piccadilly train station, which was another place where they could be protected from the bombs.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Acacia yelled back, their argument forgotten as she grabbed onto her sister's hand, pulling her out of the way of the crowd. "Perhaps it's some sort of festival?" she suggested, pressing her back up against the wall. On second thoughts though, Acacia realised that none of the Muggles actually looked happy with what was occurring.

Mothers were clutching wailing babes in arms; children clutched onto their siblings' hands, sucking their thumbs; old men clad in strange uniforms were ushering people into shelters as cars skidded to a halt so that the people inside of them could jump out and rush to the air raid shelters with rest of the Mancunians. Panic and worry was written all over everyone's faces and, although Heather couldn't care less, Acacia felt sorry for the Muggles, wonder what was going on.

The two eight year olds were unnoticed by everyone for a very long time, pressed up against the wall as they were, hidden from view of the air raid wardens by the people flooding past them quickly in their haste to seek shelter from the bombs. Acacia and Heather still had no idea what was going on....they weren't even aware that there was a Muggle war ongoing as well as the Grindelwald one in their world.

"Girls! Get to safety!" an air raid warden suddenly noticed them as the crowd cleared because the rumbling of German planes were getting closer and closer by the second which urged everyone but Acacia and Heather Rosier to move off the streets faster.

"Run! It's a muggle! He's going to burn us!" Heather said in panic to her twin and, although Acacia hesitated because she didn't really believe the old man was going to burn them, she allowed her sister to pull her along by the hand and the two girls sprinted down the street, their blonde hair flowing out behind them in the wind that had picked up from the overheard planes.

"WRONG WAY! YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!" the air raid warden yelled after them, believing that they were trying to find an air raid shelter but, of course, Acacia and Heather had no idea what one of those was nor did they understand the danger they had placed themselves in by running down the street.

It seemed to all happen in slow motion to Heather. She panted, "He's chasing us!' to Acacia which prompted the two girls to run even faster, their footsteps pounding on the pavements as the old man bumbled after them, trying to direct them to an air raid shelter because the sounds of houses being bombed in the distance was getting closer and closer....and so was the rumbling of the planes.

"Stupid Muggles.....stupid Muggles.....stupid Muggles..." Heather was muttering venomously underneath her breath as they ran, her hand slipping in Acacia's clammy grip. "Stop being horrible! It's not their fault that this is happening! I bet it's stupid Grindelwald again...terrorising the poor Muggles..." Acacia snapped at her sister as they came to a standstill in an alleyway behind some terraced houses, out of breath.

"Grindelwald is trying to make a better world for us to live in!" Heather argued back, parroting their mother's words from earlier that week. "Yes, by creating terror! The world will not be better if people are still treated like animals, killed for nothing!" Acacia snarled at her twin, furious with her.

Acacia started to walk away, storming down the cobbled alleyway as Heather ran after her, the rumbling of the planes practically deafening the two girls now, "Muggles are practically animals anyway!" she yelled at her sister and Acacia puffed up with rage, whirling around with her eyes afire with fury.

"How dare you! They are just the same as you and me! We are all humans!" she screamed at Heather.

"ACACIA, SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

"YOU SHUT UP, HEATHER! MUGGLES ARE NOT INFERIOR TO US JUST BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE MAGIC IN THEIR VEINS!"

"ACACIA, SERIOUSLY, WE NEED TO GO!"

"STOP AVOIDING THE SUBJECT! YOU'RE HORRIBLE, I HATE YOU SO MUCH, HEATHER! HOW COULD YOU BE SO IGNORANT?"

"ACACIA, SHUT UP! I CAN HEAR MORE PLANES!"

"STOP MAKING MORE EXCUSES! I DON'T SEE WHY YOU HATE MUGGLES SO MUCH, I-"

Heather took a deep breath, her eyes filling with tears as Alastor patted her on the back, his face grim as he long since gave up on keeping his distance from Heather. The girl was upset, recounting how she lost her twin sister and Alastor couldn't turn a blind eye to a crying girl.

"I tried to warn her," she whispered, wiping her tears away furiously, ashamed that he could see them brimming in her eyes, "I tried to warn her but it was too late-" Heather's voice caught and she cleared her throat, carrying on with the story.

A bomb had dropped from one of the planes flying over the top of the arguing twins, hitting one of the terrace houses that Heather and Acacia were behind. The house exploded into flames, debris and huge chunks of the building blowing up and swooping through the air, over the wall and into the alleyway where the girls were stood.

Heather had seen the bomb drop, she had seen the house explode as Acacia ranted at her about Muggles not doing anything wrong and she had tried to warn her twin but it was too late. A flying window frame had shot out from the house, shards of the shattered glass still remaining in the wood and it hit Acacia Rosier right in the head, knocking her to the ground.

Heather screamed as Acacia dropped to the floor, the massive frame crushing her as she gasped out, a complete look of surprise freezing on her face whilst the glass shards from the window frame dug into her chest, causing blood droplets to form on her white dress.

"CASEY! CASEY! HELP! SOMEONE? ANYONE? HELPP!" Heather screamed at the top of her voice, tears spilling over her cheeks as she dropped to her knees beside her twin, trying to pry the heavy window frame off Acacia, her hands shaking from the weight and her emotion that was racking through her body.

The old man from earlier suddenly arrived with the woman from the wizarding sweetshop in tow and Heather didn't care anymore that she had been running from the man or that the woman was a half blood - she pushed all prejudice aside and sobbed, begging for their help.

Cursing, the sweetshop lady whipped out her wand and, although Heather's eyes widened at the fact that she was going to use magic in front of a Muggle and break the Statue of Secrecy, the woman didn't seem to care and she uttered, "Wingardium Leviosa," which lifted the frame off Acacia's body. The old man's jaw dropped and he crumpled to the floor, fainting from the shock of seeing magic occur.

"Remind me to obliviate him afterwards," the sweetshop woman whispered to Heather but the girl was too hysterical to listen because, even though the window frame had been lifted off Acacia and the woman had firmly said, "Ennervate!" several times, Acacia was still lifeless and one fumble for her twin's wrist deemed that there was no pulse.

The sweetshop woman held Heather Rosier close as she howled like a wild animal, her gut wrenching cries mixed in with the all clear signal that rang over the city of Manchester, meaning the citizens could come out of the air raid shelters. But Heather still sobbed furiously, her heartbreaking wails being the only coherent sound she could make for the rest of that day.

Once the Rosier parents had been informed, Jared and Dahlia were on the scene immediately, leaving the sweetshop woman to wipe away her own tears and hand over their sobbing daughter whilst offering her condolences about the other one, who was still lying motionlessly on the floor.

Dahlia Rosier couldn't even hold or comfort Heather because she was too busy sobbing over Acacia, who's chest was still bleeding heavily from where the glass shards had stabbed her viciously. Jared picked up his little girl, hugging her close as her body pulsated with sobs, only speaking to say a few words, "I h-h-hate M-muggles! T-they d-did this!"

Alastor Moody sat there on the bench beside Heather Rosier, the girl who had been through so much pain, the girl who had lost her twin sister, for Merlin's sake, and the girl that everyone saw but never really looked close enough.

It had started off as lending a listening ear to see whether he would make a good Auror by understanding the dark wizards and witches and why they were like that but it had ended with Alastor getting emotionally involved in Heather's tragic childhood.

"So that's why you hate Muggles," Alastor said quietly, understanding where all that hate inside of her came from because he knew that it must've stemmed from somewhere. Heather nodded, "You won't understand, Moody, but they took away my sister. Because of their reckless war, Acacia died. I lost my other half, my soulmate, my confidant. I lost a part of me when Casey died."

Alastor did understand. He may not have been a twin but he had a sister, a cute little seven year old called Heidi and he couldn't imagine ever losing her. No matter how much he argued with her and found her annoying, Alastor knew that he would be broken if Heidi ever died and it would probably change who he was as a person. He wouldn't be a jovial, funny and carefree lad anymore - he would be a brooding, paranoid and cynical man.

"I understand," Alastor replied quietly and Heather hid her surprise as they sat side by side on the bench, silence filling the space between them. Heather just couldn't quite believe that she had confided in a blood traitor, Alastor Moody, of all people but she felt good now that it was off her chest, now that she had finally told someone.

I wonder why I never told Walburga Heather thought to herself before she remembered. Walburga! She was supposed to be meeting her at the Hogs Head as soon as she had gathered enough evidence! But she has gotten distracted with telling Alastor about Acacia.

Heather jumped up, getting a startled look from Alastor in reply. "I have to go," she gabbled before racking her pockets to check that she still had her magical camera with her...which she didn't. A cold feeling flooded through her veins. "Moody, have you seen my camera?" she asked frantically.

Alastor feigned ignorance for a moment, stroking his chin in thought as Heather crossed her arms and glared at him, her foot tapping up and down in agitation, "What camera?" he asked innocently before fake realisation dawned on his face and his jaw clenched as he pulled out Heather's camera, dangling it in front of her, "Ohh, you mean this camera?"

Heather reached forward, intending to grab it but Alastor swung it away from her, smirking as he did so whilst Heather glared at him, desperately needing her camera because it had the incriminating picture of Mia and Charlus kissing on it. Alastor stood up, stepping closer to her so that he was practically face to face with her.

"Not so fast, Rosier. Now it's my time to talk."

Do you feel sorry for Heather now? I thought I would delve more into some other characters for this part of the plot line. Sorry if you wanted more Fleamia content but there are other characters in this book lovelies and they need appreciating <3

I'm on 3% battery, I've burnt my face with my curlers today and I'm exhausted because I went to a party last night....

BUT this book has 22K reads now (thank you so much) and my birthday is in two days so...life is good, I suppose :)